Fallen Kingdom: An Infinity War Story
by Lionheart261
Summary: In the aftermath of Thanos' devastating attack upon the universe, Shuri must come to terms with both her brother's sudden demise and her sudden ascension to the throne of Wakanda. Contains spoilers for: Infinity War, Ant Man and the Wasp.
1. Chapter 1-Dust to Dust

4/28/18

Okay, so if any of you are like me, you were absolutely dead after watching Infinity War. Your soul was torn out of your body and your mind left processing what the hell just happened. You know it was probably one of the best films you've seen in your life, but **Jesus Christ** , man! What the hell was that?! How?! Why?! Who?! What?! What happens now?! I need to know NOW!

In case it wasn't obvious, I am writing this a day after watching the movie and am evidently still shook. I apologize for that.

So, what exactly is this? I'm hesitant to call it my speculation on what will happen next, because it sounds a tad pretentious, but that's probably the best descriptor. Only difference is that the Earth's Mightiest Heroes won't be the precise focus here. They'll be around and impact events(still debating how far to take this one), but for this fic, I've decided to focus it on the struggles of another survivor of Thanos' universe snap: Shuri, the sister of the Black Panther, King T'Challa, and the only one left to assume the throne of Wakanda. And, more broadly: how Earth deals with this finger snap long term. Yes, I know everything will probably get fixed by time travel stuff in Avengers 4 so that barely anyone remembers it, but like, this is legitimately an intriguing narrative dilemma to explore.

Also, apologies if I accidentally spoiled anyone. I take full responsibility for that.

Anyway, I hope you all enjoy.

[Edit 6/6/18]: Fixed a few chronological inconsistencies with the narrative, since the events of Black Panther and Infinity War are supposed to be 2 years apart.

* * *

She was born with everything. A father who loved her. A mother who nurtured her. A brother who, for all his annoying quirks, had her back no matter what happened to either of them. And, as icing upon all that, a paradise in which she could grow to be whoever she wanted to be. A land in which starvation and destitution were abstractions with no substance within its borders. A land of limitless opportunity, supplied by the land and the material from within the mountain, but most of all supplied by the ingenuity and intelligence of its people. A land where the people lived happy under the rule of a long line of powerful, noble monarchs, each one dedicated to promoting the nation's welfare. And a land where she could be proud to call that monarch her father: King T'Chaka of the nation of Wakanda.

Everything she needed was right there at her fingertips from the moment she could crawl. Everything she wanted, she figured out how to build herself by age 5. Her father eventually granted her request to become a part of the Wakandan Design Group-and by age 14, she had proven herself its most exceptional mind. Every building, every vehicle, every new technological marvel-all of them were born out of her own brilliance. She loved it even more than her people loved her for it.

But, of course, paradise doesn't last forever.

It began when her father was killed. Caught in a bombing of the UN by a terrorist named Helmut Zemo, and left to die in her brother T'Challa's arms. All so that Zemo could pin the attack on a former Cold War operative named Bucky Barnes, the "Winter Soldier," and make him a global fugitive. All just one part in an elaborate plan to turn Earth's mightiest heroes, the Avengers, against each other. In the end, her father was murdered by a man who saw him as nothing but an aging old monarch whose death would do more than any of the great things he accomplished in life could ever hope to match. She still hated that man, that selfish colonizer who couldn't look beyond his own suffering to see the suffering he had inflicted on countless others over the loss of their loved ones.

But she survived. And she recovered, with the help of her mother, Ramonda, and T'Challa, whose rule as king seemed to bring hope for a promising future. Of course, that too became mired in disorder when N'Jadaka, under the name of "Erik Stevens" and the son of their uncle N'Jobu, returned and challenged T'Challa for the throne so that he could wage war on the outside world. The moment he threw T'Challa's broken, bleeding body off of the cliff...well. Suffice it to say that her brother appearing to be dying once was enough for one lifetime.

But in the end, after an arduous struggle, they saved T'Challa and righted N'Jadaka's wrongs. They gained new allies, winning over their old rivals among the Jabari tribe. And more importantly, they finally opened themselves up to the outside world, providing aid to disadvantaged groups throughout the world and opening up their borders. For centuries they had sealed themselves off from the world fearing an end to their paradise, only to find that those who had decided to enter only made it shine brighter. Working in the Wakandan International Outreach Center, she of course couldn't remain blind to the challenges ahead-many nations outright refused to accept aid from Wakanda even as their people were starving, but T'Challa had a way of...persuading some of them. Nothing quite like showing up in a bulletproof cat-suit to bring people to the negotiation table.

For the last two years, everything seemed to be looking up…

Until **he** came.

* * *

Shuri doesn't remember exactly what happened. One minute, she was carefully extracting the Mind Stone from its connection to Vision. The next, some guy straight off of one of those ridiculous American metal band covers came in, killed her guards, and left only her and Zoye, one of the Dora Milaje, alive before Vision threw him out the window just as she slipped into unconsciousness.

When she came to, she didn't know how much time had passed-only that she needed to get up and make sure Vision and Zoye are okay. She did so, albeit groggily and with, she noticed, some slight cranial trauma. _Probably to be expected after being punted down a spiral staircase_ , she thought absentmindedly. However, when her vision finally cleared up, Vision was nowhere to be seen. _Is he still fighting off that death metal guy?_ It was a distinct possibility, except for the fact that the general din of battle seemed to have died down considerably. She couldn't tell whether they had won or lost. If they had won, based on what she had been told, it would provide an alternate explanation for Vision's absence: the Mind Stone had been destroyed, and him along with it, by that woman he was with. Wanda, she remembers, the only one with the power to destroy it. She seemed greatly concerned about her progress with removing the gem from his neural net, and had gathered that they were...close. She grimaced at the thought of what she must be going through, but the fact remained that she had to see what was going on.

After wandering around for a couple seconds, she came across Zoye, lying on the ground with a spear wound in her side and struggling to get up, and called out to her.

"Princess!" She replied as Shuri ran over to her. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, yes, I'm fine," Shuri answered. "We need to get you to the medical wing immediately." The wound she had suffered was severe, but repairable, if they could get to a hospital bed in the next 40 minutes.

Zoye nodded at first and tried her best to rise, but as Shuri moved to lift her onto her shoulder, she began to feel a change come over her. As if every cell in her body had to struggle against a cosmic tidal wave merely to exist. She didn't know what had happened to cause it, or why only she seemed to be affected, but of one thing she was sure-she couldn't stay much longer.

"Princess..." she began, as calmly as she could manage. Out of all of her training, the one point most often drilled into her head was a simple mantra: if you ever find yourself gazing into the abyss, don't blink.

"It's okay, Zoye," Shuri replied with a grunt as she began to support her forward. "I've got you. You're going to be okay."

"It's too late for me," Zoye said simply. The wave was growing stronger. She could feel it-she only had seconds left. Before Shuri could fully respond, she turned herself around so that she could look into Shuri's eyes. She held her free hand tightly in her own, as if that alone could prove to her that Shuri too would not succumb to the same wave that was sweeping her away. She felt nothing unusual, and thus she said a silent prayer to Bast, to keep Shuri from suffering the same fate.

Shuri didn't know what to make of her sudden change. _What is she saying?_ she thought, _Her wounds can be healed. So why…?_ Before she finished the thought, she had her answer: a single speck of brown dust coming loose off of Zoye's uniform. That speck soon led to others-thousands, peeling off of Zoye's clothes and body like grains of sand being carried off in a wind that could not be perceived by human eyes. Before she could even process what was happening to her guard, Zoye shushed her.

"Do not worry, my Princess. Whatever happens, I know you will be able to face it," she paused for a second as Shuri struggled to comprehend what she was hearing. "You are so much stronger than you think you are."

Unfortunately, all that statement did was make her panic more.

"Zoye?! What do you mean-what's happening?!"

Before Shuri could press further, Zoye had already closed her eyes and tilted her head upward, content with the course of her life up to this point and sure that Wakanda would not in fact fall today. With a smile on her face, she let go, and fully disappeared into a cloud of dust.

"Zoye?!" Shuri cried out, beginning to frantically grab at her disintegrating body, only to find her hand wave through it and scatter the dust even further. "ZOYE!"

She managed to grab onto a cluster of the dust and held it as tightly in her hands as she could manage, but this too began to slip out from between her fingers, and soon she was left on her knees in the hallway, the last of what remained of her guard floating away with the breeze. Soon after she retreated from where she had stood and grabbed her knees, beginning to rock herself slightly. It wasn't that she had never seen death-she had killed a man herself, during the Battle of Bashenga Mountain-but the way in which Zoye had simply stopped existing left her shivering all the same. Nevertheless, her message seemed to allude to some greater crisis, and thus Shuri managed to get herself up and return to the window overlooking the field, picking up her pulse gauntlets on the way.

She looked out onto a scene of total devastation. The screams carried all the way to the facility, as thousands of soldiers all over the plains disintegrated into dust. Jabari, the Border Tribe, Dora Milaje...it seemed hardly anyone was safe. She turned away, unable to watch the tragedy unfolding before her. This much death, done indiscriminately...it could only mean one thing:

 _ **He**_ _must have done it_ , she thought. **Thanos**. The alien conqueror who led the army of beasts sent to take the Mind Stone and add it to the rest of the Infinity Stones he was planning to gather. The man whose goal, as the outsider Banner understood it, was to attach the Infinity Stones onto a powerful weapon he held, some kind of gauntlet, in order to "wipe out half the universe." No one had explained the properties of any of the other stones to her, besides the one she had been tasked with removing, but she could think of no other explanation for what was causing this. _But I'm not feeling anything_ , she thought to herself, touching her arm in order to be certain of its continuing form. _Zoye...she clearly felt it_. _So since I'm not feeling it, that must mean that there are some who are not affected. And if his target was "half the universe," it must not have been geographic, but population-based! Which means…_

She gasped as her eyes widened out of fear.

"Brother!" She cried out in panic, in spite of herself. She hurriedly put on her gauntlets and raced down the hallway to the nearest exit, all the while fumbling for her transmitter. By the time she had gotten to the lift down to the ground floor, she had managed to get it and attempted to contact her brother. After a few seconds, the device produced a low tone, indicating that his transmitter was not responding. She then proceeded to try reaching others even as she reached the ground floor and hurried out the door, all the while encountering no signs of life.

Her mother, Ramonda, did not respond. Neither did her likely soon to be sister-in-law, Nakia. She was about to try Okoye next when all of a sudden she saw her, along with M'Baku and some of the Avengers from before, standing in a clearing about 50 feet away. "Captain America" Steve Rogers was there, for one, as were the "Black Widow" Natasha Romanov, formerly "Hulk" Bruce Banner, the "War Machine" Colonel Rhodes, Thor, and some...raccoon, standing on its hind legs. They all looked particularly somber. She promptly stopped dead in her tracks at the sight of Okoye, just as Okoye noticed her and called out her name. The two covered the remaining distance in what felt like seconds, with M'Baku following close behind, and fiercely embraced, relieved that somebody they loved had survived this cataclysm.

"Oh, praise Bast!" Okoye cried out in relief, tears threatening to stream down her face.

"I thought for sure you too had been taken from us!" M'Baku added joyfully, which was surprising given his initial opposition to Shuri's role in Wakandan affairs.

Shuri was too overjoyed herself to fully process that last comment, but when she did, she paused. "W-what do you mean 'you too?'"

Okoye's smile faded, and she turned away. M'Baku hung his head and scowled in disgust, whether at the question or himself she couldn't tell. The raccoon seemed to want to say something, but was immediately shushed by Rogers.

"Okoye?" Shuri repeated, to no response. "M'Baku?" She tried, but still no response. Panic began to well up inside her by the time the Avengers had moved closer, evidently apprehensive about something. After a few seconds of apprehension, she voiced the source of her worry:

"Okoye...w-where is my brother?"

Okoye's efforts to suppress her own feelings failed her at the mention of T'Challa. She let out a small, strangled cry of anguish. As Okoye was clearly unable to clarify what had happened to him, Shuri desperately turned to M'Baku, rapidly advancing upon him. "M'Baku! M'Baku, where is my brother?! Where is T'Challa?!"

"Calm yourself, Shuri!" M'Baku said as he grabbed her by the arms in an attempt to hold her still. The look on her face as she feared the worst broke down the walls he had built up, and he himself had to take a shallow breath before he confirmed her greatest nightmare.

"Your brother...he's...he's **gone** , Shuri."

She didn't hear the rest from him or from Okoye-about how he had been wounded by Thanos when he went to retrieve the Mind Stone, how valiantly he had fought to protect Wakanda, or how he disintegrated into dust before Okoye's eyes after Thanos snapped his fingers and destroyed half of all life in the universe. The jumbled thoughts, regrets, and cries of anguish within her own head deafened the world around her, until she closed her eyes and would have collapsed to the ground if M'Baku hadn't caught her. She opened her mouth, but all that came out was one final scream. A scream of such concentrated pain and sorrow that it carried throughout the forest and across the plains. A scream that she held for 20 seconds before her lungs gave out and all that she could produce was a much longer series of racking sobs as M'Baku held her in his arms, himself having given up on restraining his own anguish. The other heroes merely hung their heads as the gravity of their own losses hit them all over again.

* * *

"The reports are coming in now."

Okoye's announcement brought the group out of the stupor they had been in ever since the populace had been told to return to the city and the heroes along with them. Shuri required a bit more nudging by M'Baku to get out of her own head. She wiped one last tear and sat up out of one of her chairs to look at the data on the holographic monitor in the center of the throne room, where they had chosen to regroup along with the tribal leaders hastily elected to replace those who had fallen.

"Today our computers and survey drones recorded a population of approximately 9 million, 6 million of which were natives and the rest immigrants from neighboring countries," Okoye began, for reference, before bringing up the current report on the monitor. "After Thanos'...attack occurred, the population was reduced to 2,478,600. 27.54% of the original figure." The room gulped in apprehension along with her at the reality of such devastating losses.

She continued, "Of this figure, only 45,654 are immigrants. Among the native population, 150 of the 3,000 women inducted into the Dora Milaje are still alive, as are 143 of the Jabari sent to fight Thanos, present company included." M'Baku hung his head in rage at the loss of so many good men. "And as we can see, the other four tribal leaders, including..." She pauses as she is forced to confirm this additional piece of information out loud, "W'Kabi, of the Border Tribe, were erased, as were many of the candidates who would have replaced them."

"Among the remaining population," Okoye said, "567,000 are of the Border Tribe, 700,000 of the River Tribe, 250,000 of the Jabari, and the remaining 915,649 of the Mining and Merchant Tribes." Seeing the pain on Shuri's face, Okoye was hesitant to confirm another of her fears, but knew that she had to in order to complete the briefing. She took a deep breath before concluding with the one last, terrible statistic.

"The Queen Mother Ramonda's guards have gotten back to us, and...confirmed that she, too, has been erased along with...with Nakia, the Queen in waiting." She paused as the gravity of what she had said sunk in for the others in attendance, including the Avengers. "Everyone in a position to succeed to the throne has perished. Everyone except-"

"Me," Shuri finished with a whisper, still grappling with everything that had happened to lead to that moment.

"Yes," Okoye confirmed solemnly. "You, Shuri, are now the heir apparent to the throne of Wakanda...and to the mantle of Black Panther."

The group was silent for a moment, still trying to comprehend what exactly was happening. Once everyone had gotten a grip on themselves, Shani, the appointed leader of the Border Tribe, only a few years older than Shuri herself, voiced the concern all of them shared.

"My Queen," she began, eliciting a slight twitch from Shuri as she was reminded of her new station and the terrible cost associated with it, "What are we going to do?"

Before Shuri could respond, Davu of the River Tribe stood. A frail man of about 65, he was selected purely through his relation to his cousin, the previous elder. Notoriously set in his ways, he immediately objected.

"This is outrageous! We have just suffered the greatest calamity in the history of our nation! And yet all of you are willing to turn what's left of Wakanda over to some arrogant child?!"

"You will be silent, Davu!" Okoye hissed. Shani looked at Davu in contempt. _The conclusive proof that this man is a fool_ , she thought to herself, _Is that he isn't shutting up when Okoye told him to_. And indeed, he did not.

"And what of our traditional ways?! You would just blindly submit to a child who has not proven herself in ritual combat?! Who has not been sanctioned directly by the ancestors, through the vision of the heart shaped herb?! We are expected to bow before her in this time of crisis merely because of her bloodline?!"

"If you wish to know what the ancestors think of her as Queen," M'Baku stated with his usual calm yet cold demeanor, "I am more than willing to send you to them myself."

Davu gulped slightly as M'Baku got up, but even his impressive bulk seemed unable to silence him. "You would defend her, Jabari? Just 2 years ago, you were outraged at this insolent welp heading our technological development and scoffing our traditional ways! Yet now you would kill me so that this **harlot** would be queen?!"

Shuri was about to say something, but her comment was drowned out when everyone stood up and began shouting at Davu, forcing Shuri to cover her ears and sit back down. Okoye demanded that he be removed from the chamber while the other tribal leaders along with Captain Rogers tried to hold M'Baku back, lest he shatter Davu's skull. Romanov, Banner, Colonel Rhodes, and Thor were also eager to make their opinions known as to Shuri's worthiness and the appropriateness of Davu's comments, but it was the raccoon, who had identified himself as "Rocket" en route to the capital, who finally silenced the room the only way he knew how: a loud cry to shut up, followed by a series of plasma rifle bolts aimed straight at the ceiling.

The sheer noise brought everyone out of their argument and made Shuri look up. Satisfied that he had everyone's attention, Rocket took a breath and spoke up.

"Now, I don't know how y'all think things are supposed to be run in this backwater city-state of yours," he began. "But from what I overheard, this is supposed to be a monarchy. Near as I can tell, that chick over there is the monarch," he stated, pointing at Shuri. "And in every monarchy I've ever stolen from-I mean, _visited_ ," he paused to make sure nobody questioned his alteration before finishing, "When the monarch is about to say something, everybody else is supposed to shut up and listen, or face their wrath."

The group didn't quite know how to feel about this. The leaders didn't even know the raccoon could talk, let alone that he had such a crude temperament. The others had to contain their surprise and, in some cases, laughter that they were being chewed out by a talking raccoon. Unfortunately for all of them, he continued, "Usually by beheading them or just shooting them in the face, although some of them get creative. Heh, I remember this one planet I was on, Haras VII, where they'd attach a guy's limbs to tow cables on four different spacecraft, and then jump to lightspeed. Hohoho, man! I can't even imagine how far the mess-"

"Stop talking, please," Shuri spoke up calmly, yet firmly.

Rocket blinked. "Yes, your majesty," he replied immediately.

With his gruesome tale ended, Shuri got up.

"The raccoon is right," she said, addressing the crowd. "If I am to be queen of Wakanda, I cannot serve in such a position while letting my advisors fight my battles for me."

The rest of the room continued to be silent, save Rocket. "Hey, listen, I have a name, you know-!" he began before being immediately tapped in the shin by Romanov's foot.

"And as for you," she said as she turned her attention to Davu and began to pace towards him. "I can understand your apprehension. Transfers of power come with many uncertainties, and at a time like this, those uncertainties can be particularly frightening. However..." By this point she had reached him, and despite him being 3 inches taller than her, he still seemed to shrivel slightly before her gaze. "That is no excuse for the disrespect you have shown me, nor for the disrespect you have shown towards my trusted advisors."

Davu looked like he wanted to say something, but what little courage he had possessed appeared to have vanished under the cold steel of her eyes.

"If you truly believe that I am not fit to rule Wakanda, then by all means, select a champion and have them face me in combat," Shuri said calmly, with no particular malice to it as much as sheer determination. "Their name will be added to the list of the 6,521,400 people who have been lost this day. But unlike those 6 and a half million, they will have been lost for nothing. Nothing...save your own pride." After giving Davu ten seconds to retort and hearing nothing, Shuri finished, "And I don't intend to let anyone else die today."

After one last nervous gulp, Davu angrily walked out of the chamber, Shuri holding up a hand to make sure no one accosted him on his way out. She sensed that the River Tribe would soon be reconsidering its choice for the leadership of their tribe.

When the door had been slammed and a moment had passed with no further rebuttals, Shuri moved to where she could stand facing the throne. My throne, she realized, momentarily breaking out of the character she had hoped to convey to her subjects. Once she assumed it again, she lifted her chin up with as much authority as she could muster, keeping her back turned so as to hide any signs of worry on her features.

"Obviously our first priority should be towards restoring our own economic stability. Bringing the Golden City back to full operational capacity."

The group nodded in agreement.

"Okoye, I would like you to begin relocating civilians to the capital immediately. We need to rebuild our workforce...and frankly, in the days to come, I'd feel much better having my people under this energy dome than outside of it."

Okoye nodded. "Understood, my Queen. It will be done."

She nodded in turn before proceeding. "M'Baku, I am entrusting you with the task of keeping the peace. In a crisis like this, a lot of people are going to be panicking, and some may be driven to violence. We need someone to ensure that no one else dies today. I can think of no one better suited to that task."

Rocket once again spoke up, "Well, I mean-" but immediately shut up when Black Widow kicked him again. Shuri continued.

"Shani, you must assemble the remaining warriors of the Border Tribe and send them to patrol the border. If our neighbors have suffered similar losses, they will likely find our immense resources more appealing than ever, and won't as easily balk when faced with our defenses."

"Understood, my Queen."

"And the rest of you should work to assist M'Baku and Okoye in their efforts."

The other two tribal leaders, Bahati of the Merchant Tribe and Hasani of the Mining Tribe, nodded. "Understood, my Queen," they said in unison.

Once she was finished, she turned her body towards the group.

"Now, if there are no further comments, there is an urgent matter I must attend to." She waved to the Avengers, who stood up prepared to accompany her, and was about to walk down the hallway when M'Baku interjected.

"My Queen," he began, "There is something to be said for upholding tradition."

Shuri raised an eyebrow and tilted her head slightly. "In what way?"

"Regarding the heart shaped herb."

Shuri's eyes went wide for a second before returning to normal. "It's been 2 years since the garden was burned, M'Baku, and we've been searching for another ever since. I think we need to face the fact that the last herb to exist went with...with T'Challa."

"Perhaps," he responded, "But continuing to search for it may prove fruitful. I have a feeling those who share Davu's outlook will be more acceptive of your rule if you consumed the herb."

"I cannot waste what resources we have left pandering to a bunch of closed-minded idiots with sticks up their asses," Shuri said, a good helping of her old sass returning in spite of all that had happened. M'Baku couldn't help but smile slightly upon seeing it, even as she continued. "For now, all attempts to search for a replacement herb are to be put on hold until we have recovered."

He nodded, and gave her the time-honored Wakandan salute, bringing his arms up to his chest in an x shape before bringing them down to his sides. Nevertheless, he couldn't shake the sense that retrieving the herb was important.

Shuri responded in kind, prompting everyone else to do so as well, in support of the new Queen of Wakanda. The Avengers fell in line behind her as she walked out of the throne room.

When they were certain she was gone and the doors were closed, the tribal council was left to talk amongst themselves. Hasani voiced the concern they all shared.

"Do the rest of you truly believe she is ready for this?"

The others looked at each other before giving their responses.

"She fought valiantly in the struggle to reclaim Wakanda, and she has proven herself to be one of the most exceptional minds on Earth," Okoye stated, matter-of-factly. "She has my full confidence."

Shani and Bahati nodded in agreement, as did M'Baku before he spoke up as well.

"It is true that I had doubts as to her abilities before. But since then, I have gained an immense respect for T'Challa. If he were here now, I am confident that he would be satisfied with Shuri's ability to lead us. It is on that confidence that I base my support for her."

Hasani nodded solemnly.

"Then I suppose I must place my faith in Bast that you are all correct. For if not...we are surely doomed."


	2. Chapter 2-As the Dust Settles

At long last, it returns!

My apologies, this really should not have taken as long as it did, but with school and other life stuff, there's only so much you can do. But, nevertheless, it is here, albeit shorter and not at all focusing on Shuri or the other Avengers. Instead, I have decided to look out into the broader universe to examine the repercussions of Thanos' deadly snap.

As always, I hope you enjoy, and be sure to leave reviews. I'd like to hear what you all think.

:::

 **One week before**

In its heyday, Xandar was a jewel of the galaxy. Its glistening skyscrapers and rich culture made it a popular tourist destination and gave it immense intergalactic prestige. Adding to this charm was its notoriously low crime rate, made possible by its position as the seat of the Nova Corps, an elite group of law enforcement officers tasked with maintaining peace throughout the Nova Empire. Beloved by the populace and feared by criminals across the galaxy, Xandar and its Nova Corps were a beacon of hope to many struggling planets of a better, brighter future for all.

Now, Xandar was dying, ripped apart by an alien invasion force of such size and power as to be almost unstoppable. Its buildings had collapsed, their supports blown to bits by plasma cannon fire. Its paintings were torn to shreds by an army of beasts who knew not what art was, only the impulse to kill and destroy. And its Nova Corps was all but wiped out in the initial attack, with only a handful of them remaining within their headquarters. "Nova Prime" Irani Rael, the leader of the Corps, had retreated to the vault where the Power Stone, one of the six Infinity Stones which governed all creation, had been kept ever since it was used to nearly destroy Xandar by the Kree warrior Ronan. And, thankfully unbeknownst to Thanos, the Mad Titan and the leader of the invaders, Rhomann Dey had gone to another chamber beneath the complex in order to activate a last resort.

However, despite the best efforts of the Nova Corps tasked with guarding Nova Prime, who had herself donned a suit of armor for the first time in 10 years, they were soon overwhelmed by Thanos and one of his children: Proxima Midnight. Nova Prime manages to land one punch on Thanos, albeit an ineffectual one that ultimately serves only to earn her the wrath of Midnight. As Thanos walks towards the vault, Nova Prime breaks free and tries to fire a plasma bolt at Thanos, only to be stabbed in the chest by Midnight and her limp body cast aside as Thanos smashes the barriers protecting the Power Stone. With nothing separating him from his prize, Thanos delicately lifts it up in his massive fingers before bringing it close to the Infinity Gauntlet he carried, which attracted the stone to it by some sort of cosmic magnetism. Upon fitting into the slot, Thanos yelled in triumph as the Power Stone's energy coursed through his veins, amplifying his physical strength to immense levels.

Meanwhile, Dey had just finished inputting the launch code for the Nova Corps' latest weapon: the Black Nova helmet, a helmet which utilized nanotechnology to access a previously only lightly tapped cosmic power source of the Nova Corps known as the Nova Force. With little time and no options, Dey let the computer automatically decide coordinates for the lightspeed ship that would carry this weapon, based on which Nova Empire strongholds hadn't already been compromised by the rest of Thanos' forces, led by his children Cull Obsidian and Ebony Maw. Finding none, the computer then looked for surviving members of the Nova Corps from outside of the Nova Empire's jurisdiction, and settled on one: Jesse Alexander, a human living on the planet Earth. Seconds after the craft finally launched for Earth, Dey found himself stabbed in the chest by the last of Thanos' children, Corvus Glaive. Left dying on the ground and helpless to fight off Glaive, Dey was left saying these last, final words:

"Xandar has fallen today...but the Nova Corps will live on...forever!"

And with that, the last surviving Xandarian Nova Corps member breathed his last as Thanos and his children embarked to locate the next target of their purge: the Tesseract, guarded by the Asgardians.

 **0:00:00**

Before the sound waves produced by the Mad Titan snapping his fingers had even reached the ears of Thor, the God of Thunder, the effects of what he had done had already begun to be felt on the other side of the universe, as well as the other side of the very planet he was on, and would continue to be felt for all time.

 **0:00:35**

Pepper Potts had been pacing back and forth throughout her office suite for the last...she didn't quite know. 2 hours? 3? Maybe 4. It was definitely long after her fiance called her from orbit en route to the other side of the galaxy, that much she knew. But it had to have been not too long after that Hill woman said she couldn't tell her anything about where he had gone, because that was 6 hours ago. So she knew at the very least that she had been pacing for a minimum of 2 hours and a maximum of 6 hours.

Happy was of course on the phone as well, right outside of her door, trying to get what information he could. However, his own search was disrupted by a sudden shriek. He burst open the door to find Pepper's arm slowly disintegrating before their eyes. By the time he had rushed to her position, she had disappeared completely, leaving him panicked and unsure of what to do. Thinking he ought to call somebody, he reached for his phone only for it to fall out of his hand, passing through a cloud of dust. Before he could even move towards the door, he too was gone, all that was left of either of them disappearing through the open window.

 **0:00:42**

On the other side of New York, in an apartment in Queens, May Parker and Edward "Ned" Leeds were glued to the television screen, desperate for news on the fate of Peter Parker, May's nephew and Ned's best friend who they both knew was operating as the superhero Spider Man. At first, May had been...surprised, but ultimately supportive, as long as he kept himself safe. Now, however, after he'd been missing for 2 days ever since a massive attack in Manhattan, May feared the worst.

But suddenly…

"May?"

The question was spoken in a small voice. The voice of a child, faced with the sudden reality of the abstraction of death as his body began to disintegrate only a few seconds before May reached out a hand to find it slowly disintegrating as well. With only seconds left, the two acted on instinct, reaching towards each other and holding the other in their arms until they both disintegrated into the ether.

 **0:01:15**

Johann Schmidt, once known to the people of Earth as the Red Skull, looked over the dark, aurora-like skies of Vormir. 70 years ago, he had held the Tesseract in his hands, and tried to harness its power in order to take over the world. But it had cast him aside and sent him to this place to serve as guardian of the Soul Stone, which, by the simple fact of having never loved any other living being, he could never possess for himself. Over time, he would discover that for some reason, whether by the terms of his curse or the imperfect super soldier serum he'd taken all those years ago, he had gained immortality. His past self would've been overjoyed at the prospect, but in his situation, torture was the only word with which he could even attempt to describe it.

Which is why now, as he looks down at his outstretched arm and the lifeless expanse of Vormir's ocean, and begins to watch it slowly peel away into small flecks of dust in the wind, he smiles. He accepts the sentence gladly, and breaths a statement of gratitude to the Mad Titan, Thanos, for what he had evidently succeeded in doing. Of course, he knew that the act would kill trillions throughout the universe, but just as he was back on Earth, he could care less about their suffering. He only hoped that the man who contributed to his eternal curse, Captain America, would suffer the same fate, assuming he didn't die as the plane crashed down over 75 years ago. But in the end, none of that mattered compared to that one, simple joy he could now experience.

At long last, he could finally die.

 **0:01:30**

In the city of Carefree, Arizona, not much in particular happens. With a population of only 3,363, everyone more or less knows each other. And everyone knows all about the Alexanders-or, at least, their drunkard father, Jesse, who works as the school janitor on the rare occasion he is sober. The local kids also likely know about his son Sam, who at the young age of 15 is forced to pick up his father's slack around the house. However, nobody knows just what drove Jesse Alexander to drink. Some say it was Iraq. Others say it was the death of his father. Still others claim he's simply too much of a coward to face the hardships of life. But the truth is far more extraordinary than any of these claims.

That truth would begin to present itself on the day of Thanos' attack on Earth, when a sudden shriek from Jesse Alexander's Latina wife brought him out of one of his stupors. By the time he got to the kitchen, she had already disintegrated. No sooner had this happened, and Sam, also hearing the shriek, pulled his bike up to their fairly secluded rural home, than the low whine of Jesse's Nova issue tracking beacon become audible. The tracking beacon which they had told him would only go off if Xandar had fallen, and the entire galaxy was put in peril. He activated its holographic display, which informed him that a ship from Xandar was en route to his home, having taken a week to get from Xandar to the Sol system, and would arrive in ten minutes. He then moved towards the door and grabbed the handle, realizing in horror that he too was disintegrating.

"Oh, hell," he muttered just as Sam burst into the room to find his father disintegrating and his mother gone while a red dot continued beeping on Jesse's forearm.

"Dad!" He cried out in panic. He would have gone on if Jesse hadn't grabbed him with his remaining arm, which would also only last a few more seconds.

"Sam...the tapes...basement...find them! Please!" Jesse said before he disintegrated completely.

"Dad?! Dad!" He cried out in panic, but he was already gone, leaving his son alone in the same old town, but with a new population:

147.

 **0:02:00**

Like Xandar, the Sovereign system of planets was seen by many as a shining example of what the planets of the galaxy could be. Although sneered upon for their snobbish attitude, contempt towards other races, and narcissistic belief in their own perfection, the achievements of the Sovereign's people were nevertheless respected.

But alas, even their golden towers were not safe from Thanos' wrath.

As loyal subject after loyal subject turned to dust before her eyes, Ayesha, the Golden High Priestess of the Sovereign, scrambled to her secret chamber, where her greatest creation was being monitored by several of her leading scientists.

"Is he ready?!" she asked, panicking lest she too should succumb to this sudden plague before she could witness the birth of her latest work.

"H-he should be, High Priestess," one of the scientists replied. "But I fail to see how-"

"Whatever the cause of this great tragedy, I am certain that the accursed Guardians of the Galaxy were involved! We cannot allow them to get away with their crimes against our people any longer!"

"Y-yes, High Priestess. He shall be awakened immediately," the scientists answered in unison as they worked to unseal the birthing chamber of their planet's most powerful weapon. Upon succeeding, the chamber opened and a man, glowing with a bronze-like golden aura, emerged and knelt before his master.

"High Priestess Ayesha," he began, "You have given me the gift of life. For that, I am your servant. Now, tell me: what is it you require of me?"

Ayesha took a breath before responding, now confident she would remain.

"Your duties cannot be accomplished here. You must go out into the universe, and discover who is responsible for this great tragedy against our magnificent race. Furthermore, if you encounter any members of the despicable Guardians of the Galaxy, you are to kill them immediately. Destroy all who would seek to mock our brilliance and mar our perfection!"

The man searches through the memories implanted into him by his creators. One by one, the names of each of the current Guardians of the Galaxy are revealed to him-Star Lord, Drax the Destroyer, Gamora, Groot, Rocket Raccoon, Mantis, Kraglin Obfonteri. He nods.

"By your will, it shall be so, High Priestess."

The man stands up, determined to accomplish his new mission. His memories leaving him fully aware of the abilities bestowed upon him by Ayesha's years of research and the best of their technology, he begins to float above the ground as he manipulates the cosmic energy around him. Having gotten the hang of it, he then lifts off into the sky, leaving the planet's atmosphere in mere moments.

"Excellent," Ayesha comments with satisfaction. "Go, my beloved creation! Let the Guardians of the Galaxy and all those who oppose us learn to fear the name Adam Warlock!"

 **0:03:00**

"It is done."

The proclamation seemed every bit as momentous as it was trivial, as if the speaker couldn't decide whether or not it was worth any comment at all as far as the others were concerned.

"How many have been lost?" another asks.

"In total, or specific to this domain? Their 'Milky Way' galaxy?" the first responds, for clarification.

"In the Milky Way."

"356,765,123,865,426," a third states, with contempt evident in his voice. "Nearly 357 trillion deaths on our hands! 58 of our own kind and our human informant turned to dust because of your cowardice! If you had listened to me when I told you of the threat Thanos posed after Xandar-!"

"Uatu!" the first says sternly, silencing him as he continues, "I do not need to remind you of our people's highest law. After what your father's proposal did to the Prosilicans-"

"So we are to sit here and do nothing while the universe tears itself apart?!"

"This tragedy brings us great sadness," a fourth interjects, "But the universe will recover."

"Did you not see the same scenes that I presented to you?!" Uatu exclaims derisively. "Earth, Xandar, Sovereign, Sakaar, Hala-all around the universe, billions more have died over the last three minutes! Economies are collapsing! Satellites and vehicles are falling out of the sky! Power plants and communications infrastructures are breaking down! Already, some worlds' leaders speak of using what little resources they have left to invade their intercontinental and interstellar neighbors and take their resources for themselves in order to survive! Other worlds are condemned to death as all those who supported their societies have literally crumbled to dust!"

"What do you suggest we do?" the second asks. "Not only would destroying Thanos ourselves solve nothing, it goes against our fundamental principles."

"Besides," the fourth interjects, "Thanos is unlikely to utilize the Infinity Stones for such a purpose again. In his mind, his goal is complete."

"That may be, but we cannot take the chance," Uatu replies. "If we were to tell the heroes who opposed him-the Avengers-where he was located, the one known as Thor could destroy him! And with their combined intellect, they could devise a means of using the Infinity Stones to reverse the damage he has done!"

"Bah!" the first snorts derisively, "As if the humans stood a better chance of properly harnessing the Infinity Stones' power."

"If you are unwilling to exercise your power yourselves, the humans are our best hope of restoring the universe to what it was," Uatu replies.

The others mull over this in private before a fifth one, who had previously been silent, speaks up:

"Uatu's argument is persuasive. I propose we gather the rest of our kind and further debate the proper course of action to take regarding this universe."

The others nod, but Uatu is less than enthusiastic. "That could take years! A blip to us, yes, but to them-!"

"Silence!" The first one roars. "We have made our decision! Should you choose to ignore it, and violate our highest law...there can only be one penalty."

Uatu is silent for a moment before he nods. "Understood."

And with that, the other Watchers turn away as Uatu looks out into the universe, wondering whether he is making the right choice, before turning around and following them to join the rest of their kind.


	3. Chapter 3-Damaged

Hello again. Last chapter was pretty short, so I felt okay making just a quick little blurb, but this time, I felt the need to be a bit more elaborate, for the purposes of explaining how things are going to work from now on.

For starters, afraid I can't pin down a precise, reliable schedule of updates for y'all, as it often depends on how much of the story I've got planned out(and indeed, there is a story planned out to a fair extent thus far)gets into each chapter. Not to mention, of course, borrowing from our old friend Jeff "The Collector" Goldblum, life finds a way...to be a royal pain in the ass. That particular issue doesn't seem to have calmed down too much, so for now, best bet based on my current pace is to assume updates will be coming out at least once a month, and on some occasions several times a month.

Also, regarding format, I've decided to add endnotes as a way to explain certain plot points or just comment on my thoughts regarding the chapter y'all just read.

And finally, based on new information I've just now glanced at(real smart move there), I've decided to start a segment which will likely be appearing frequently: "Lion Done Messed Up," in which I look at all of the details about the canon which I didn't know/forgot to double check in prior chapters. So, here we go!

Hey, so, remember Zoye? Yeah, turns out Ayo was actually the Dora Milaje who guarded Shuri while she tried to extract the stone, as opposed to a nameless Milaje. And I would've known this had I been able to recognize her while watching the film twice, but I didn't, so here we are. Considered retconning it, but Ayo plays a fairly significant role in the time to come, so I decided, "Eh, screw it."

Another thing I wasn't sure on was where the Guardians hung out-the other side of the Milky Way, or another galaxy. Turns out it was the Andromeda Galaxy, so when Uatu was listing off casualties, none of the Guardians or the planets they've visited were included. Still, not too big an issue, since the Milky Way alone is estimated to have about 4 billion Earth-like planets inside it. And if you crunch the numbers and assume every one of those to have a population identical in size to ours, you get something around 10^20 power. So I think that number works.

According to the Russos, May and Ned are alive. Not sure about Pepper or Happy, though.

Anyway, enjoy, and once again be sure to leave reviews.

* * *

 _You can't do this._

 _You're not supposed to be here. This isn't-you're not ready. You could never be ready. You're not supposed to rule! You're not even 18 yet!_

 _You could probably handle it under ordinary circumstances, but_ this _?! There isn't any human in the history of ever who could handle this!_

 _You saw the reports that one of the Dora Milaje handed you on your way out. What was her name, anyway? Alika? Anyway, you read through all of that!_

 _Prime Ministers and Presidents, however legitimate, are dead all over the planet! England, Japan, France, Spain, Germany-everywhere! China and Russia are collapsing from the inside, governments all over Africa and South America are on the verge of being toppled by regimes little better than the reigning ones, the US has maybe 15 senators and 46 representatives left(not to mention the president was the Secretary of Education, of all things!)-! And, to top it all off,_ all _of them have barely any workforce anymore!_

 _...There's only one way that you can_ maybe _fix this, assuming you even have the guts to stand up there without making a complete ass of yourself, let alone deal with Davu and all of his wrinkled old buddies once you announce it to the whole goddamn world!_

 _But I think we both know you're just kidding yourself. Even T'Challa couldn't manage something of this scale, and you're just the annoying little sister. What could you possibly hope to-?_

Somebody taps her on the shoulder, disrupting her inner monologue for a time as she turns around to see Captain Rogers.

"How you holding up?" he asks, in his usual compassionate, yet straightforward manner. She hasn't always been the best at observing people, but even she can recognize the pain in his eyes. Pain that, by all appearances, he's gotten surprisingly good at masking through years of practice.

"Fine," she lies, and the group proceeds in silence for a moment, until a familiar voice interjects.

"Hey, so, I know I'm kind of new to this whole 'Avengers' deal you all have got going on," Rocket Raccoon pipes up, "But would you mind explaining what exactly we're here for?"

Smiling slightly at the raccoon's bluntness, Shuri turns to face him while continuing to walk down the hall to the landing bay outside of the palace. "With the world in the state it's in, Wakanda's technology will be all the more necessary to those who are suffering...and all the more tantalizing to those who are suffering the worst of all. My people will handle Wakanda's defense, but the administration of aid to the rest of the world must proceed as smoothly as possible."

She pulls up a holographic display of the research facility she had recently departed in confusion. "I will begin discussions with the UN Security Council about amendments to the Sokovia Accords which will allow you to operate out of this facility, with reduced restrictions, in order to take advantage of Wakanda's superior technological capabilities and operate at the discretion of a field leader. Until then, your job is the same as always."

"Save the world," Agent Romanoff, the Black Widow, states simply.

"No matter the cost," Captain Rogers adds.

Shuri nods solemnly.

"And what about you?" Bruce Banner, alternatively known as the Hulk, asks her.

Shuri grimaces. "The same, unfortunately."

The doors to the launch platform swing open as she continues, "Thanks to this catastrophe, Wakanda is the sole nation on Earth with a functional economy. At least, by your definitions. Thus, it falls to us to manage the recovery of the rest of the world."

"Which means..." Colonel Rhodes begins, quickly catching on to what she's proposing.

"We'll have to increase our own production capacity for your conventional trade goods-agriculture, electronics, steel, etc.-by 700%, and extract, construct, and distribute vibranium technology at a rate never before seen on this planet to compensate for the global work shortage," Shuri states simply, leaving the humans there at a loss for words while Thor and Rocket are just really confused, unaware of the implications.

Shuri smirks, a bit more of her old humor returning. "Now do you see why I'm so anxious to get the band back together?"

She then points to the hoverjet that was left parked on the runway, Ayo, the Dora Milaje chief of security, and her companion Ayeka waiting for Shuri's arrival. _This was_ his _hoverjet_ , the cynic in her brain thinks solemnly before Shuri casts it aside as per usual.

"Now, if you'll excuse me...I have a room full of bureaucrats to placate." With that, she gives a friendly wave to the Dora Milaje as she enters the hoverjet with them in toe, closing the hangar door and taking a seat near the front of the ship as the autopilot kicks in and sends them out of the energy dome and on course for the United Nations office in Vienna.

:::

As the hoverjet goes into cloaking mode, the group silently agrees that they should depart as well, and collectively head for the Quinjet nearby. Once Romanoff takes the helm and leads them out of the dome, the group is finally given a chance at respite. Eventually, Rhodes asks the question on everyone's mind.

"Are you all absolutely sure about this?"

The Avengers look at each other with uncertainty, not sure how to respond even as all of them had considered the answer since T'Challa's death was made apparent.

"I mean, she went from being a scientist princess to queen of the most powerful nation on Earth in like 15 minutes. I can't even begin to imagine the kind of pressure on her right now."

The others pause to consider this. Fittingly, or perhaps not fittingly, depending on your perspective, Rocket speaks up first.

"Look, I've only known that girl for about 30 minutes as of right now, but did you see how she stared down that old jackass in the council chamber? I can already tell that she's got guts."

"And intelligence to spare," Banner points out. "I haven't felt that stupid being around another person since I heard Hank Pym giving a guest lecture at college."

"It's not like any of us can really help her out that much, anyway," Rogers adds. "With the exception of Thor, I don't think any of us has ever ruled a country for any length of time."

"Less of a...country, at that point," Thor reflects solemnly.

"But regardless, I'm confident that she can handle herself," Rogers concludes.

"Besides, we have far more important things to worry about," Romanoff says as the others nod in agreement.

"How long until we know where Tony is?" Rhodes asks, naturally concerned about the wellbeing of his closest friend.

Rogers sighs deeply. "Last anyone saw of him, he was on one of Thanos' ships as it left Earth's orbit. So, I don't suppose anyone knows where it might have gone?"

Rocket thinks for a second before answering. "Well, I don't know exactly, but one of the most common nicknames I've heard for the guy is 'The Mad Titan.' That combined with how I've heard him described from Thunder Boy here," he says, gesturing to Thor, "leads me to think he's from the planet Titan, right around the Outer Rim of the Andromeda Galaxy."

"Wait, so, different from the moon Titan? Orbiting Saturn?" Banner asks.

Rocket looks at him confused. "There's a moon named Titan around here?"

The others nod.

"Huh. What are the odds?"

"The point is," Thor interjects, "If there's anywhere that Thanos would have been likely to have his ships rendezvous towards with the Stones in hand, it would be either his own ship, or his home planet, Titan."

"Yeah," Rocket affirms. "And that's about 2 and a half million light years away." The group is silent as that fact sinks in before Rocket continues, "Now, ship like his, it could make the trip in maybe two days. But if the Guardians got there too, and Thanos didn't...uh, anyway, if their ship is there, then even with the reduced weight, it'll take maybe 2 weeks for it to travel here, assuming that they don't head for some other planet."

"Wait, the Guardians?" Rogers asks. "Who are they?"

Thor answers him. "The protectors of the Andromeda Galaxy, of which the rabbit," He gestures at Rocket, "and the late Groot were members. Star-Lord, Drax, Gamora, Mantis-"

"Luke Skywalker?" Rhodes sarcastically adds with a smirk while the others smile at Thor's unintentional humor.

"I mean, they may have picked him up since I saw them last, I don't know," Thor answers.

Rhodes chuckles. Romanoff, Banner, and Rogers smile in spite of themselves while Thor is left looking confused. Rocket simply asks, "Who the hell's this 'Luke Skywalker' pansy?"

Eventually, the conversation drifts to other channels.

"Who else was with him?" Rhodes asks.

Rogers and Romanoff go silent for a minute. Eventually Romanoff answers, hesitatingly, "As far as we know...the kid."

Rhodes is crestfallen. As the rest of the group is still very much confused, Rhodes elaborates. "Called himself 'Spider Man.' Stark brought him in back during the Civil War."

Rogers chuckles grimly in spite of the situation. "Is that what they're calling it now?"

Ignoring him, Romanoff continues, "There was footage released from the attack on New York which confirmed that he fought Thanos' acolytes before he was transported onto their ship."

"He also had that other guy with him," Banner cuts in. "The doctor...wizard...person. Doctor…?"

"Strange. Doctor Stephen Strange," Thor elaborates.

"Doctor Strange?" Romanoff asks, puzzled. "I thought he was a neurosurgeon?"

"Whatever he was before he became a wizard, the important thing is that he is the bearer of the Time Stone," Thor answers.

The group looks down. _So that's how Thanos got his hands on that_ , Rogers thinks.

"Welp. He's most certainly very, very dead," Rocket states matter-of-factly.

Thor nods somberly. "Indeed. He never would have given it to Thanos willingly."

"Which means, best case scenario: as soon as Thanos pried the thing from your wizard friend's corpse, he left our buddies alone before zipping off here to finish the job."

Rogers nods somberly as well. "More or less. Which means until we have more information on where the bastard is now or what happened to the others, we need all the help we can get to keep things stable here before we think about looking for any of them." He looks to Banner, Rocket, and Thor for confirmation while the rest of them are off put by Rogers disrupting his usual penchant for watching his language.

Thor nods fiercely. "You have my axe."

Rocket merely shrugs. "And my guns, I suppose. I mean, it's not like I can get off this rock without this guy," he says, poking a thumb at Thor, "And I'm not even sure where the other morons are. So, as long as I get to shoot some bad guys and make some cash on the side while I wait for them, I'm good."

Banner, picking up on the unintentional reference both of them are making, adds with a hint of confusion, "And you have my...Hulk, I guess? Assuming I can get him, uh, working, as it were." He taps his head a bit, as if the only thing holding back the Hulk from transforming is a minor headache. After a moment he adds, "B-but until then, I was hoping I might persuade Shuri into accessing the data she collected on Vision's neural net. With luck, we should be able to use that, as well as the, um, method she suggested," he adds sheepishly, "In order to create a new, more efficient program for Vision, as well as a new neural net. And building a body for him out of all of the vibranium they've got shouldn't be too hard."

The group brightens up a bit at this prospect, but not without reservation. "Would he still be the same Vision?" Rogers asks.

After a second Banner replies, "Well, we should be able to reconstruct his memory files up to that point, but as far as his personality goes...we're still not sure how much of Vision was Vision and how much was the Stone. Not to mention even if we did rebuild him with no problems, he wouldn't have all of the perks that the Stone gave him."

"Still, everything we can get helps. Especially if that help is a friendly face," Rogers concludes, to the others' approval.

"But I think it goes without saying that we need to find out where the hell Clint and Scott are fast," Rogers states, again with the group's general approval. "Rhodey should be able to reach Scott without a problem. I'll leave Clint to you," he says, gesturing to Romanoff. She nods solemnly.

"If you wish, I should be able to take you to his home once this craft disembarks," Thor adds.

Romanoff nods. "Thank you. I just...I'm worried about him and Laura. And the kids."

Rogers, Banner, and Thor nod as she continues, "I don't...I don't particularly look forward to what I might find there."

"I don't suppose you guys have any other 'superheroes' waiting in the wings?" Rocket asks.

The group ponders this until Rhodes speaks up.

"I've heard rumors down in New York about a couple of unregistered metahumans calling themselves the 'Defenders.' Apparently they played a pretty key role in stopping some ninja clan from taking over the city last year, if my sources are to be believed."

"Why haven't the Avengers looked into this?" Rogers asks.

"Eh," Rhodes shrugs. "Let's just say that after the Civil War, Stark wasn't too belligerent about enforcing the Accords, particularly when to do so would've been leaving no good deed unpunished. So, the report was 'lost' before it could cross over to Ross' desk. And at that point, bringing any of them onto the team would've raised too many questions."

Rogers nods. "I'll see if I can't persuade them to lend a hand."

"There's also...someone else." Romanoff adds with a fair amount of hesitation. When the others raise an eyebrow, she elaborates, "About 25 years ago, Captain Carol Danvers, former Air Force pilot and C.I.A. and NASA operative, came into contact with an alien device containing the genetic code of an alien being who was residing on Earth disguised as a human, Mar-Vell. The resulting genetic mutation caused her to develop Mar-Vell's ability to harness solar energy, allowing her to increase her strength and durability to immense levels as well as fly and shoot energy blasts. They called her 'Captain Marvel.'"

Rocket thinks for a second before adding to her story. "Hang on, 'Mar-Vell'...if I were in the betting mood, I'd stake all my cash that the guy was a Kree."

The others cock their heads as he elaborates, "They're a fairly ambivalent species with an interstellar empire over in the Andromeda Galaxy, often coming into conflict with the dominant Nova Empire in the region. Me and my team had some experience with a radical of theirs, Ronan, who worked for Thanos, tried to use the Power Stone to blow up the Nova Corps' home planet, Xandar."

"Did he display any of the abilities Nat's describing?" Banner asks.

"Eh, he was fairly tough on his own-laid out my buddy Drax with very little difficulty. But I don't know anything about solar energy powers."

The group is dejected for a second before Rocket goes on to say, "Although...most of them are blue-skinned, but there is a pretty small minority which greatly resembles you humans. The Kree, well...let's just say they don't like to talk about them when killing them is on the table. But it's possible they've got abilities the bulk of their population lacks."

The group appears enthusiastic about this prospect, but Romanoff brings up a problem. "Unfortunately, S.H.I.E.L.D. lost contact with Danvers during a particularly vital mission. Barring the incredibly likely possibility that she was killed or else is now dead, we've theorized that she was lost somewhere in deep space, possibly in another galaxy."

"Do you have any information on what exactly she was doing?" Rhodes asks.

Romanoff shakes her head. "In case it wasn't obvious from how none of you have heard of her, S.H.I.E.L.D. kept her existence as Captain Marvel under wraps. Public records were carefully modified to claim that she died in the accident. They even found a way to create a fake corpse built off of her original DNA pattern, in order to corroborate the account." She continues, "Only people with Level 7 security clearance were even aware of her situation, and as to what she was doing...the only person with clearance that high is Nick Fury himself."

"Alright," Banner says after a pause. "Why don't we contact him? Ask him what he knows?"

Again, Romanoff shakes her head, this time producing a small chip from her right pocket and sliding it across the table. The chip had several small red LED lights adorning it, with two right next to each other having gone dim, one blinking, and two shining a somewhat bright red. It was emitting a low whine, almost like a heart rate monitor in a hospital. Before anyone can ask, Romanoff explains, "After the incident at the Triskelion, Fury gave me this-a chip designed to monitor companion chips held by critical agents a-at the time. These chips were held by Fury, Maria Hill, Sharon Carter, and m-myself," she says with a small cough. "If one of them goes out..."

The group hangs their heads dejectedly. "So Fury is dead," Rogers says. "But who else?"

"Maria Hill," Romanoff answers.

Rogers can't seem to decide between breathing a sigh of relief or falling further into despair. "So Sharon is-"

"Alive, and waiting for you, I imagine," Romanoff says with a slight smile. The others brighten up at this prospect as well, thankful of somebody being able to salvage some hope from the current tragedy.

Rogers notices an odd detail about the device which the others appear to have overlooked for the moment, but Natasha quickly puts the device back in her pocket before he can comment.

 _None of them can know the truth_ , she thinks.

:::

With another 4 hours left until they arrived in Vienna, Shuri was hard at work tinkering with her trusty vibranium gauntlets and some spare parts she had ordered brought onto the ship, mostly to distract herself. Ayeka had retired to her bed sometime before while Ayo continued to watch Shuri stoically, but now she emerges with a yawn, carrying a necklace and squeezing Ayo's arm playfully before going to see what exactly Shuri was up to.

"My Queen, if you will pardon my curiosity…?" she begins, leaving Shuri to smile slightly as she motions for her to move a bit closer, having just finished her modifications.

"Well, for some time I have been experimenting with a remote brain-computer interface for my devices, connected through this headdress," she says, placing a small vibranium headband onto her forehead. "If I set these up right, I should be able to call my gauntlets to my location from up to 20 miles away."

She then continues to work for a few seconds, neither of them quite knowing what to say. Not particularly willing to endure awkward silence, Shuri pipes up with a slight smile, "So, um, I heard that you and Ayo recently got engaged." Ayo raises an eyebrow while Ayeka blushes slightly.

Before Ayeka can come up with a response, Ayo answers bluntly, "This is correct."

"Ah. Well, congratulations!" She says, smiling.

A few more seconds pass before Ayeka replies, "Oh, t-thank you, my Queen! It was, um..." she pauses, looking over to Ayo, before finishing, "...a very _recent_ development."

"...Oh," Shuri says as the realization hits her. "W-well, again, congratulations to you both. Um, have you set a date?"

"No," Ayo says bluntly, her desire for the subject to end clear.

"O-oh. Well, do please let me know when you do. I very much look forward to attending."

"Thank you, my Queen," Ayeka says warmly. "It would be a great honor."

"Indeed," Ayo says before retiring to the private chambers.

Shuri watches her go, concerned. "Is, uh...is everything okay with you two?"

Ayeka smiles. "Absolutely. Why do you ask?"

"I just...I don't know, she seems...tense."

Ayeka chuckles. "Ayo's never been the best with company. She can actually be quite lively when she's with the right people, though. Like me, or Okoye, or-"

"T'Challa," Shuri finishes dejectedly, falling back to her work.

Ayeka pauses for a second before hesitatingly putting a hand on Shuri's shoulder. "You know she cares about you a great deal."

"We've talked maybe five times in my entire life."

Ayeka says nothing as Shuri continues, "She cared about T'Challa. They were friends for 7 years, ever since he took up the mantle of Black Panther. She cared about Nakia. They're from the same tribe-they've known each other since primary school. And she respects Okoye through their years of service together. But me?" She hangs her head dejectedly, pausing her work. "I'm just the annoying, stubborn brat she always has to babysit, thrust into a position far above my station and acting like that makes me something."

Ayeka pauses, as if she were physically stung by Shuri's words. "Hey, now. It's not like you're bereft of accomplishments." When Shuri says nothing, she continues, "The work you've done for the Outreach Center, helping thousands of disadvantaged people all over the world...your courage during the fight to reclaim our country...hell, half the technology of this ship wouldn't exist without that extraordinary mind of yours." She smiles warmly. "The only people who wouldn't respect you after all of that are people like Davu. Fools too narcissistic to realize their own foolishness." After a pause she finishes, "And I assure you, they're in the minority."

"You're certain of that?" Shuri says pointedly, to which Ayeka once again hesitates.

"...Well, for whatever it's worth, I am certain that I speak for the entirety of the Dora Milaje when I say that we trust you, and we respect you. And we will protect you with our lives."

"All 147 of you?" Shuri says morosely. "I don't know how much help that will be if South Sudan invades."

Ayeka smiles. "I'll take on 500 of their soldiers if it means protecting you, my Queen." Ayeka's caring smile is persistent and genuine enough to crack Shuri's armor for a moment, and she allows herself to grin slightly at the prospect of hundreds of soldiers fleeing in terror when faced with Ayeka in combat.

Ayeka continues smiling as she takes out a set of contacts and a necklace from her pocket. "If you're going to be testing those things on the ship, you should put these on."

Shuri looks at them, first with shock and then resigned acceptance, as if their existence is something she's simply going to have to accept.

"These...these are the components of T'Challa's emergency habit," Shuri states, still somewhat dazed. Ayeka nods as she continues, "The heart shaped herb was still missing 3 months ago, so...so T'Challa had me build him this, just in case somebody attempted to strip away his powers with the _Utywala Lomtyholi_ [The Devil's Brew]."

As Shuri puts them on, Ayeka nods again. "Improved vibranium insulation, microfibers allowing for more precise redistribution of kinetic energy and a greater absorption capacity, micro-hydraulics for a small increase in strength, and contacts which allow the suit to respond to threats 30 times faster than a normal human. Yet another product of your genius."

Shuri nods dimly, her mind preoccupied with something else.

"Something the matter, my Queen?"

Shuri shakes her head at first before conceding. "When I demonstrated the suit for him, he quipped that it would look much better on me. He said..." she chuckles before continuing, "He said that I'd make the perfect sidekick. He even came up with a name…'Little Cub.'" She starts to choke up a bit as she elaborates, "He used to call me that all the time when I was little. I'd always get mad at him about it, and he'd just laugh, until eventually...I couldn't help but laugh as well."

At that point, any efforts to maintain her composure had all but collapsed, and she began quietly sobbing, for a multitude of reasons, before the sobbing quickly grew in intensity. Almost immediately, Ayeka pulled Shuri towards her and held her in her arms as she too failed to hold back tears for their beloved king.

:::

Eventually, after about 15 minutes, Shuri calmed down enough to resume her work, and within the hour she had completed her modifications while Ayeka had left to talk with Ayo. Upon their return, Shuri donned the headdress once more and tapped a small button to activate it before stepping away from the gloves. She then motions for Ayeka and Ayo to stand back as she turns to an improvised smart watch, with a kimoyo bead inserted into the slot to act as an interface for its interactive holographic display. After fiddling with the controls, she murmurs to herself, "Alright, now-remote controlled Panther Gauntlet retrieval test...10% thrust capacity." With that, she closes the device and stretches for a second before holding out her right arm and giving the mental command to arrive at her location to the corresponding gauntlet.

The gauntlet complies far too severely as the small vibranium pulse engines she installed in the device flare to life and rocket towards her right arm. Shuri was barely finished lifting up her arm in defense before the contacts glowed a dim blue, activating the necklace and covering Shuri in an all-too familiar black sheath of vibranium nanites. In this state, the gauntlet hit her arm hard enough to where she felt the impact, but leaving it and the gauntlet intact as it fell to the ground a few feet away.

Shuri manually deactivates the suit, dazed at its sudden materialization.

"Yep. Still works."

She then moves towards the gauntlet to inspect the damage. Finding none, she replaces it on the desk and fiddles with the watch controls.

"Remote controlled Panther Gauntlet retrieval test...2% thrust capacity," she records before repeating the procedure. This time, the gauntlet flies towards her at a more reasonable speed, allowing her to react in time should the need arise and, more importantly, allowing the gauntlet to easily connect itself around her arm without any damage or activation of her new Panther Habit. She then repeats the procedure with the other gauntlet, achieving a similar result.

She chuckles to herself while Ayeka smiles. As Shuri looks over to the pair, however, Ayo merely nods in what Shuri assumes is approval. _Still, I'll take it_ , she thinks.

She then orders the gauntlets to disengage, and begins testing their general flight capabilities through her headdress using the right gauntlet. At first, things go fairly well as she flies it slowly around the room, but soon she makes a wrong turn and it crashes into the desk, knocking some panels loose in the process but leaving the circuitry intact. With a resigned sigh, she sets herself to repairing the gauntlet before fine-tuning the devices and their myriad functions. Hours pass, and before she knows it, the ship has crossed into Vienna's airspace as the delegation prepares to face the United Nations in a time of unprecedented chaos.

:::

As the Quinjet lands in the Avengers facility located in upstate New York, the group disembarks and walks into the building. With Rhodes being the only one with security clearance in the building, he begins making an assessment of the equipment at the facility, handing the group a few familiar items along the way.

"Thor," he says to get his attention, "I believe this belongs to you." He tosses a brown belt which appears to be made of oxhide over to him.

Thor chuckles happily as he recognizes the enchanted item. "Ah, Megingjord! It has been a while, old friend."

"What exactly is it?" Banner asks.

"A belt given to me by my father," Thor explains. "Whoever wears it is granted twice their normal strength."

"Huh. Well, that certainly would've come in handy against Hela," Banner remarks. "Where's it been this whole time?"

"Well, I had it with me when I came to Earth three years ago, but I had left it with Stark for safekeeping upon my departure. It is fortunate that it remains in good condition."

"Ha, yeah," Rhodes remarks. "Can you imagine what would've happened if that Vulture guy had gotten his hands on it when he hijacked that cargo plane?"

Both Thor and Banner look at Rhodes suspiciously.

"O-oh. Uh, sorry, thought you were, um, up to speed. Uh, yeah. Last year Stark sold Avengers Tower and had everything transported here. This smuggler guy tried to steal everything aboard before the kid stopped him."

The two of them don't stop looking at him. Rhodes looks down and goes back to searching among the items.

"Oh! Cap!" He says, prompting Rogers to look up. "Think you'll be happy to see this old thing again." In his hand is Rogers' original shield, in all of its overly patriotic glory.

Rogers looks at it with a look both grim and wistful. He appears torn before finally taking it and slinging it over his shoulder. "Eh, may as well," he says.

Before Rhodes can look at any additional equipment, however, the group is interrupted by a surprise visitor.

"Colonel Rhodes," a voice states simply as a figure materializes into the room via holographic projection. The figure is about 57, female, wearing a suit and commanding an aura of authority as best she can in her new station. Rhodes recognizes her immediately.

"Madam Secretary," he replies.

"Madam _President_ , actually," she replies, her irritation evident. "I trust you'll give me a bit more patience than your previous supervisor?"

"...A bit," Rhodes responds.

"Well, then it's a good thing you're not the reason I called," President Emily Matthews answers, turning away from him to address the others. "Thor, Doctor Banner. Good to see that you are well," she states offhand before raising an eyebrow at Rocket.

"Hey, you got something to say, you wrinkled old-?" Rocket begins before Romanoff kicks him in the shin. "Ow! Stop _doing_ that!"

The president chooses to ignore him.

"Steve Rogers," she says, to which he nods. "Natasha Romanoff," to which she does the same. "For the last 2 years, you have been international fugitives due to your actions in Berlin. Actions which cost the city millions in property damage and which were in blatant violation of the Sokovia Accords."

She pauses for a moment. "However...in light of this latest tragedy, the world is in a state of chaos. It needs heroes...no matter how insubordinate. So...as of 5 minutes ago, the two of you, along with Sam Wilson, Wanda Maximoff, and James Buchanan Barnes are hereby granted a full pardon. You may also inform Mr. Lang and Mr. Barton that they are no longer on probation."

They once again nod. "Unfortunately, Madam President," Romanoff states, "Sam, Wanda, and James have passed."

"I am truly sorry to hear that," she replies. "Nevertheless, Barton and Scott are free men starting today. You and the other fugitives will be granted asylum in this nation until such time as Germany agrees to drop its charges against you. I, uh...I wouldn't get my hopes up," she says with an apologetic smile. Rogers and Romanoff nod as she turns to him and concludes, "Per his supervisory powers, Secretary of State Ross has recommended you for the position of field leader, pending your charges being dropped. Until then, acting field leader Colonel Rhodes is in command."

"Wait, Secretary Ross?" Rhodes asks. "I thought that Thaddeus Ross had passed."

"This would be Secretary _Everett_ Ross," she responds before pausing for a moment and finally saying, "...Godspeed to you all."

With that, she shuts off the transmission, leaving the group in stunned silence. A camera scans the occupants within the room and separately assigns their fingerprints to the security grid, granting all of them access to the facility's systems.

Unfortunately for them, Banner pokes around and activates the monitors for an automatic program.

"Uh, Rhodey?" He says, confused as to what it is. Rhodes moves over and looks at the screen.

"Ah. Back when Stark remodeled this place, he installed a large-scale Arc Reactor underground. He hoped that in the event of a massive power outage, the reactor could kick in and take over."

"How much power are we talking?"

"Well, with how much he's refined the design, he claimed it could power the entire Eastern Seaboard."

Elsewhere, Romanoff accesses the Avengers' data monitoring station. "Looks like preliminary casualty reports for the United States are coming in now..."

The monitors are soon streaming with massive amounts of data as name after name-accompanied with their age, gender, and home state-cycles through in a progression too fast to be seen with human eyes. Only Rogers and Thor are able to keep up enough to catch names they recognize and names they don't: Thaddeus Ross, Erik Selvig, Darcy Lewis, Liz Toomes, Pepper Potts, Happy Hogan, and millions upon millions of others. Thor is further devastated to learn of the passing of Sif, who had apparently been living on Earth once more, without his knowledge, under the name of Susan Blake. The Avengers look on hopeless as the name count continues to rise to the ten millions.

"What... _what are we supposed to do_?" Banner asks, searching for some kind of answer to the impossible conundrum of human suffering before them.

After a moment of stunned silence, Rogers answers him, full of doubt and with none of the certainty he usually carries with him and seems to inflect into every word. "What we've always done; the best that we possibly can, with all of the allies we can possibly assemble. But first..." He pauses to take a shaky breath as he too briefly succumbs to despair:

" _Shut that damn thing off_."

* * *

Alright, wow! That was way longer than I thought it was going to be, but I just couldn't decide how much of my plan I wanted to include here.

Still, we got a lot of stuff set up here, which is great! While researching Ayo for how I could develop her in this story, I stumbled across Ayeka, and honestly, it just kind of fit to have them both be there. I'm not sure how accurate my portrayal of Ayeka is compared to her comic counterpart where she leads a revolution against T'Challa's regime, but I still really like how she's been turning out, especially her relationship with Shuri. And also, new heroes about to be added on to the Avengers roster getting name-dropped, which is always nice, and above all, showcasing that healing from this in every sense is going to take an immense amount of time and patience. I had felt like I hadn't quite nailed the emotion in the first chapter, so I hope I've made up for that somewhat.

All in all, for something I put together in maybe a week, I'm proud of this. I'm excited for what's going to come in the next few chapters, and I hope you all are as well.

With all that said, I hope you all have a fantastic night, and take care.

[Edit 7/8/18]: Edited a few things after watching Ant Man and the Wasp.


	4. Chapter 4-Waiting in the Wings

Hello there. Afraid this chapter's also going to be a bit of a filler chapter focusing elsewhere beyond Shuri's struggles, although they will certainly inform some developments. Don't worry-we'll get to her talk with the UN soon, and from there plenty of Shuri-centric drama will unfold while the Avengers continue to try and reassemble. But I'd like to take a moment to outline my reasons for taking this course of action.

I felt like I had to address the elephant in the Andromeda Galaxy, as it were-Tony Stark and Nebula-eventually. I had considered detailing their adventures off screen, but as I extended the time table for his arrival to 2 weeks in order to account for some additional developments, I decided against that. Then I considered briefly cutting to them at the end of Chapter 3, but that wouldn't have made much sense. Also, there's the matter of Valkyrie and other characters to address.

I also considered ending Chapter 3 introducing the villain of this first arc of the story, but I decided against it because it also didn't quite fit.

Some developments that I came up with to include into the broader story didn't quite fit with what I was initially going to do for the chapter "Assemble," which is basically the extended montage of the Avengers dragging everyone out of the woodwork. I also thought about adding it onto this story, but the material that I came up with proved to be so extensive that I thought it would work better as an entirely separate story. So, I'm moving ahead with the developments I have now.

Anyway, with all that said, enjoy, and don't forget to leave reviews!

* * *

In many ways, the place is the very picture of serenity. Every component of its environment interacting in perfect harmony for the collective survival of all. The grass was a radiant green, watered at such a precise interval so as to be almost immaculate. The sky was a clear blue, free of any pollution or decay. And perhaps no better indicator of this harmony was the kind, albeit limited, people who lived there-a harmonious community of millions seeking only to ensure the happiness of all its members.

But, as with all harmonious systems, something happens sooner or later to disrupt them completely. In this case, all it took was the snap of a finger.

As the planet's twin suns dipped below its horizon, a large, burly man remained kneeling before a stone at the top of a hill, as he had been for hours. Unbeknownst to him, a woman, fairly short but with the build of a fearsome warrior, slowly walks towards him and pats him on the shoulder.

"Hey, big guy," she says, attempting a weak smile as she waits for a response. The man just keeps staring at the stone.

She sighs and sits down next to him, staring off at the sunset in silence for a while before the man finally speaks up.

"...He would've loved the sight of this."

She perks up, relieved he's finally speaking again. "What, had he never seen a sunset before?"

He shakes his head sadly. "No, quite the opposite. Loved sunsets, he did. Said the ones on his planet were the most beautiful he'd ever seen."

She nods. "Back when I...served, I'd look out at the sunset over the bridge. Man, was that a sight."

He chuckles softly before going silent again. After another moment, he continues, "He hadn't seen one in years, you know."

"Hm?"

"When he was captured, he was never allowed to leave the arena. We escaped and fought those zombies both during the middle of the day. So...he hadn't seen a sunset since he left his home." He pauses before looking down. "And now..." He sniffs a bit as the woman puts a hand on his rocky shoulders.

"We can't stay here," she whispers into his ear. He nods repeatedly as he continues to resist the impulse to cry. "The...the others finished the repairs to the ship. We need to get back to our goal, now more than ever."

After another moment of silence, the man nods solemnly. "Yeah. Yeah, you're right. I just...I just need a moment."

She smiles sadly. "Of course, Korg. I'll head back to the ship."

"I'll catch up with you, Val," Korg replies. With that, the Valkyrie returns to the hastily improvised ship they used for their escape from the clutches of Thanos, christened the Statesman II, as Korg looks up at the horizon.

"...We won't forget what you've done for us, Miek. I just hope you have a good view of this sunset from up there. ...Good bye."

With that, Korg trudges back to the Statesman II just as Valkyrie ensures that all systems aboard are working properly.

"Destination, captain?" the impromptu helmsman asks.

"Steady as she goes, crewman," Valkyrie replies, sitting down in her small captain's chair with her legs crossed. "We're heading to Earth."

"Human."

The command, spoken in the manner of a handler to their pet, rang hollow against the white noise of the human's own racing thoughts.

" _Human_."

The woman's second attempt proved no more successful than the first. After taking a deep breath and searching her brain for something more substantive, she tried a third and final time.

" _Stark_!"

The man jerks to attention for only a split second before sinking back down into despair.

Nebula groans in frustration before stomping over to his location, still kneeling by the few specks of dust he had left. Those few which hadn't been blown away by the planet's erratic winds.

"You have been sitting here for _four_. _Hours_. There's nothing you can do for them anymore."

He remains silent.

"We need to leave."

"No," he says, in a small voice.

She stops before staring down at him. " _What_?"

"You want to leave? Be my guest. You'll be better off."

She groans audibly. "Oh, grow up, human. We don't have time to waste pitying ourselves."

"Grow up? GROW UP?!" he cries out, lunging to his feet and feebly pushing against Nebula's torso to no effect. Nebula then steps back, annoyed, as Stark forms an arm cannon out of what remained of his nanite-based armor suit. He fires off a powerful shot which Nebula easily avoids. Similar attempts end in similar results, until Nebula decides to stop humoring him.

"ENOUGH!" she screams as she grabs the arm cannon and crushes the front of it with her robotic arm, leaving damaged nanites strewn across the ground as she pulls Stark's right arm behind him and pulls with only a fraction of her arm's strength. Stark screams as his shoulder bone is pulled just shy of being completely dislocated.

As Stark gasps from the pain, Nebula lifts him up by his shirt collar.

"You think this is easy for me?! Huh?! You think that my father's cruelty has made me just as much of a machine as your toys?!"

Stark readies a response, but is cut off when Nebula unexpectedly punches him in the face with her left hand. She then continues, punctuating every sentence with another blow to his jaw.

"You think that I feel nothing for the death of my sister?! My friends?! Do you honestly believe you have a monopoly on loss?! DO YOU?!"

She throws him towards the ground hard. As he lands with a thud, Nebula looks over at the broken man before venting the last of her immediate rage into a conveniently placed boulder nearby, shattering it into fragments with a single blow. Now momentarily calmed, she walks over to Stark's prone form.

"I couldn't do it. I-I failed. I couldn't do it. I wasn't strong enough. I couldn't do it. I wasn't-I failed-I couldn't..." Stark muttered to himself as Nebula approached him. After seeing her once more, he ceased his mumbling, wary of another beating, and instead tried his best to calm down.

"I...I couldn't save them. I'm supposed to be an Avenger. Earth's Mightiest Hero. I'm supposed to protect the world, but...I couldn't save _any_ of them. None of the people on Earth, or anywhere else in the universe. Strange...Quill...Drax, Mantis. P-" he chokes up before forcing the name out of his mouth. " _Peter_."

"The boy knew the risks, and he accepted them," Nebula says, putting on her best facade of comfort as she pats his shoulder.

"He was just a kid," he whispers with a sob. "He couldn't have possibly prepared himself for this. It was-it was my responsibility to keep him safe!"

Nebula decides not to interject.

"And Strange-that stupid, arrogant bastard! He gave him exactly what he wanted! All because I wasn't strong enough!"

"I highly doubt that Thanos wouldn't have retrieved the stone if the monk had let you die instead. He would've taken it all the same."

"He-he told us that there was only one possible future in which we kick that purple bastard's ass! S-so what?! Did he suddenly realize we screwed up?! Did something that was supposed to happen not happen?! Was I supposed to do more? Was I supposed to knock Quill out earlier? Should I have kept grabbing onto the gauntlet? What did I do wrong?!"

Nebula is unsure of how to answer him at first, but eventually responds. "No. Your monk friend was right. This _is_ the future where we defeat my father."

He laughs with a mixture of cynicism and mania. "Right. And how the hell are we supposed to do that?!"

Nebula, being unsure of how to answer that question, remains silent as Stark continues, "Half of the universe is dead! My piece of shit armor's been shot to hell with no way of repairing it! Everything around here is wrecked, and for all we know, Thanos is getting ready to finish the job the minute we leave orbit! So tell me, Fearless Leader, how are we supposed to have any chance of winning?!"

Nebula takes a deep breath before responding.

"We survive."

When Stark is left dumbfounded, Nebula continues, "We find the Guardians' ship. We leave orbit and head for the nearest inhabited system. We recover. We regroup and gather allies to our cause while my father idly twiddles his thumbs. And, for as long as we need to, we survive." She then pulls him up by the shirt collar. "Any questions, Stark?"

His silence prompts her to gently release him, allowing him to land on his own two feet.

"Excellent. Now, let us find ourselves that ship."

With that, Nebula taps a button on her cranial implant, creating a heads up display reminding her of the landing coordinates she had given Mantis and the others not long ago. She begins to head towards a moderate ridge in that direction, Stark reluctantly tagging along after sparing one last glance at Peter's remains.

"Their delegation has arrived in Vienna, _Ingwe_ [Leopard]."

The message, relayed by an anonymous grunt to the shadowy figure in their darkened, Spartan quarters, was met well.

"Very well," the figure replies. "Stand by for now and be ready to proceed with your instructions."

 _"..._ Understood _. U-uzuko kubazingeli, Ingwe[_ Glory to the hunters _,_ Leopard _]!"_

 _"Uzuko kubazingeli,"_ the figure replies absentmindedly _._

They close the channel before reflecting to themselves.

"I had not anticipated that the leap would be so effectively and conveniently eliminated before I could set my plans into motion. But, now that the girl is alone, she will be easy prey."

Another pause as the figure gets up, remaining in the shadows. "Whatever shall transpire in the coming struggle, I know not. But of this, I am certain:

"The days of the Orphan Queen are numbered."

* * *

[Edit 7/9/18]: Ha, turns out I was in such a hurry to get this filler chapter out that I completely forgot to write the end notes.

So, anyway, this chapter was initially going to be a lot bigger and more wide-ranging, but after realizing some developments were either too silly to use or too far off to matter here, I decided to trim back. I also scrapped the section on Kraglin that I was planning, but this doesn't mean he'll never show up. Just might be a while.

Now, as for the villain, "Leopard," I don't want to reveal too much, but I will answer the question that's inevitably going to get asked:

 **Yes. They are an original creation, not based on anything from the existing comic continuity.**

Now, main reason for this is that Black Panther really doesn't have much of a Rogue's Gallery.

I mean, for comparison, let's talk Spider Man villains: Green Goblin, Doc Ock, Venom, Mysterio, Vulture, Sandman, Rhino, Shocker, Electro, the Lizard, the Tinkerer, Kingpin(even though he's more of a Daredevil rogue nowadays), Morbius, the Prowler(kind of)-that's just the shit they've put or are going to put into film thus far! That's not even counting such iconic characters as Black Cat, Kraven the Hunter, Carnage, or Mr. Negative who have yet to make a film appearance. It's also not counting a whole host of characters both bizarre and terrifying like the Boomerang, the Beetle, and Big Wheel, just to name a few(who, yes, is exactly what it sounds like-a guy driving a giant wheel thing that smashes into stuff). You type "Spider Man villains" into Google, it offers you a selection of 79 "villain" characters you can click on and look up on an interactive list. **79**.

Type "Black Panther Villains" into Google and you get...a couple articles from Nerdist and the like about what villains they'd like to see in the sequel. Read those articles, and a handful of problems will become apparent.

-Nerdist's "6 Black Panther Villains That Are Perfect for the Sequel" includes the likes of the Skrulls(yeah, just, like, an entire alien race. No big), Mephisto(basically Satan), Malice(literally Nakia but drugged up and evil), Doctor Doom(not even trying an MCU Fantastic Four film beforehand-nah, just gonna plop him right in Wakanda), Namor(again, no film-just bam! Wakanda), and the Illuminati(a group that...T'Challa is a part of himself-uh, okay?).

Notice a pattern? Every single one of them is either somebody else's big bad, a current ally in the MCU, or else a force that really doesn't cut it for being the baddie of a solo romp as opposed to a massive crossover adventure, at best.

-ComicBook's "8 Best Black Panther Villains," more of a general list, includes Baron Zemo(in prison, and really more of a Cap villain anyway), King Cadaver(a deformed Wakandan obsessed with power), Achebe(the guy responsible for Malice, and judging from the image they give, a pretty racist caricature to boot), White Wolf(T'Challa's white adopted brother, not Bucky), Namor...again, Man Ape(literally M'Baku but enhanced and evil), and Klaw and Killmonger(dead and dead).

So, aside from the repeats and dead guys, we have a character with little motivation to attack Wakanda in the MCU(especially since he did honestly regret what he did to T'Challa's father), another ally in M'Baku, a badly drawn voodoo witch doctor who sold his soul to the devil, and a character that's honestly pretty redundant. I mean, we already had a secret cousin in Killmonger-now we're going to have a secret adopted brother they never knew about, too? Cadaver's pretty much the only good one in there so far, and his name is still...hm.

-Den of Geek has the most promising selection in its article, "Black Panther 2: The Villains We'd Like To See," but its not without duds. Cadaver, Zemo, White Wolf, Klaw, and Doom are mentioned again because of course, but they also bring in Kraven the Hunter, whose movie rights per Sony's agreement with Marvel appear to render him ineligible based on Ryan Coogler's own attempt to squeeze Kraven into the first Black Panther film.

Aside from that, there are a few unique rogues. Princess Zanda, ruler of the rival nation of Narobia, would be an interesting foe, although strange, given that her initial conflict with T'Challa was over a time machine hidden inside of a brass frog. Needless to say, alteration would be needed.

American Panther is a gun-toting vigilante who, after his father's murderer was cleared of wrongdoing in a Swedish court, became incredibly xenophobic in his job as an NYPD officer. Basically, think the Jason Todd to T'Challa's Batman. Although such a character would honestly be pretty thematic nowadays, and could perhaps work with some tweaking("American Panther?" Really?) in, say, Daredevil or Luke Cage(especially given his home of Hell's Kitchen), I wouldn't really want to work with such a character.

The Sons of the Serpent, basically Marvel's version of the KKK, likewise fall into this category, especially since, as the article itself points out, the anti-Inhuman Watchdogs cover many of their bases.

And finally, the street advanced weapons dealer Nightshade, Tilda Johnson, was awesome, but didn't quite feel right in the main villain role of this story.

So, all in all, I figured that this original creation of "the Leopard" would fit in best to the existing world of the MCU at this time. As for why? Why, that remains to be seen, of course.

Thank you all for reading, and again, don't forget to leave reviews letting me know what you think.


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